I’ve written about the ineffective nature of Open Houses in our market place on more than one occasion. I’m beginning to think that Broker Opens are even less effective these days.
We decided to hold a Broker Open today on one of our listings. We sent out over 13,000 emails (there is company that emails agents in our market), listed it in the MLS as a broker open, dropped off flyers at the offices closest to the event, and had a couple of our business partners with huge Facebook followings advertise it for us. We offered a free lunch and a drawing for a $100 VISA card.
Today we picked up the food, placed signs out to direct people to the property, set up our inflatable RE/MAX Balloon on the front lawn, and got the home into “Show Ready” condition.
One of our team agents and I proceeded to sit around and look at ourselves for two hours. We did have one visitor. The insurance guy stopped by to measure the house and take some exterior photos. At least he had a good lunch!
I try to make it out to Broker Opens held by agents in my office. It’s more of a courtesy than anything else. Do I really need to drive out, have a light lunch, and look around a property?
I’m beginning to think that the Broker Open is dead here. Do we really need to hold homes open for agents to see these days? I can see this working in smaller markets where everybody knows everybody and there is a limited amount of inventory. However, there are about 20,000 agents and who knows how many homes on the market in the greater Dallas area.
With great photography, virtual tours, and video; agents and buyers can both get a good look at the property without ever leaving their homes or offices. Now you really can’t see everything about a home this way, but I’m convinced this is one of the primary reasons we’re seeing a decline in the effectiveness of open houses-both public and broker.
Thoughts?
